Ferguson Impressed by Rivals’ “Kamikaze” Spending
United coach Sir Alex Ferguson showed on Tuesday impressed about the way Premier League rivals spend their lots of money on players, labeling such spending steers as “kamikaze”. “Over the last two or three years we have seen very wealthy owners become part of football clubs and therefore go on this kamikaze effort to spend their money.” Although he didn’t mention any of the names, it’s relevant enough to remind that United spent about 40 million dollars on transfers this summer, while local rivals from Eastlands, Manchester City paid about 150 million dollars on new players.
“It is amazing the amounts of money that are being bandied about in the present-day game,” Ferguson added. “Some people may think it could be dangerous. But if they have that kind of money, they are certainly using it. I don’t see it abating. The kind of spending we are seeing at the moment will be here for two or three years, until such time as they understand you can’t necessarily achieve all the time by spending.” Spending on young players convinced Ferguson that this is the best way to spend money, rather than on more experienced. “Young players develop if you are looking after them properly. They do have a loyalty because they appreciate the education you give them as coaches. How we treat players is important. It is difficult to know what other clubs think. We are just the type of club who can do it,” this said. “The foundations of this club were built on young people, going back to the 1950s. It has not really left. Maybe the difference is that other clubs don’t have the consistency in manager and staff that Manchester United have.”
One of the records United reached on spending on players happened two years ago, when the Devils bought Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov with almost 40 million dollars, but the club also spent a lot on Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and keeper Edwin van der Sar. Finally, the coach claimed that a time would probably come when the club will have to spend the money not only on youngsters, but also on mature players. “There will be a time when we have to buy a more mature player,” he ended.11
